Motegi [Japan], October 4 (ANI): The 2026 Motul Grand Prix of Japan delivered a scintillating double victory for Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team), who battled previous title rival Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) on Sunday afternoon to cut the standings lead again right down to that ultra-slim margin forward of a visit to Indonesia.
It was the 2024 World Champion, Martin, who collected a significant 20 factors to carry onto the title race lead, whereas teammate Marco Bezzecchi stored his cool underneath intense late stress from a charging Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3) to choose up a podium.
With simply two factors separating Martin and Marquez, the MotoGP season heads to Indonesia subsequent week for the Pertamina Grand Prix of Indonesia, in response to a press launch from Eurosport.
The scorching pre-Grand Prix subject: onerous rear Michelin, or medium? The reply, throughout the board, was the beneficial onerous rear choice. Every rider in the identical boat. An extremely robust one to name with so little working on the onerous rear choice via the weekend. A journey into the unknown. An enormous 24 laps forward.
And quickly sufficient, it was lights out time on the Mobility Resort Motegi. From pole, Martin grabbed the holeshot to maintain Marc Marquez behind him, as Bezzecchi and Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) – who needed to serve a double Long Lap penalty – picked off Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing). The Austrian GP winner was shuffled right down to P5 from the surface of the entrance row.
That was quickly P8 on Lap 2 although as Bastianini, Raul Fernandez (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team), and the #25’s dwelling hero teammate Ai Ogura demoted Acosta to the decrease finish of the highest 10.
Clicking onto Lap 5 of 24, 0.4s break up Martin and Marc Marquez as each threw down 1:43.6s, with Bezzecchi 0.6s away from the tailpipes of the reigning World Champion. Alex Marquez took the primary of his two Long Laps on Lap 5, which noticed the #73 drop to P5, selling Bastianini to P4, whereas his second accomplished Long Lap on Lap 7 dropped Alex Marquez to P9, one spot behind Tissot Sprint podium finisher Diogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR).
By Lap 10, Martin and Marc Marquez’s tempo appeared an excessive amount of to deal with for Bezzecchi at this stage of the Grand Prix. 1.9s was now the hole between the highest two within the title race and the Italian. The #89 and #93, winners of the 2024 and 2025 World Championships, traded quickest laps of the Grand Prix earlier than the primary transfer from Marquez got here on Lap 11 at Turn 9.
A lunge up the within, Marquez parked his Ducati on the apex to cement his transfer on Martin, as we now contemplated what the response could be from Martin.
The rapid response was seeing the #93 edge his lead as much as 0.8s by the beginning of Lap 15, with Bezzecchi and Bastianini now faster than Martin. In reality, they have been each faster than Marquez too. 1.3s was the hole between Martin and Bezzecchi, whereas Bastianini sat 1.9s off third place.
The first time Martin notched up a lap faster than Marquez shortly was on Lap 16. Just over a tenth was taken out of Marquez’s lead, 0.7s the hole now, and on the subsequent lap it was marginally faster once more. 0.7s is not a sensible hanging distance, however Martin was at the least preserving the stress on right here in Japan.
A 1:43.291 was slammed in for the eight-time MotoGP World Champion to offer himself an added slice of respiratory room, and the benefit grew to 1.2s on the subsequent lap.
It then got here again right down to 0.9s, as Bezzecchi and Bastianini fired in quickest laps of the race. Bastianini was 1.2s away from Bezzecchi’s rear Michelin, then a flat second, as Bastianini dropped one other quickest lap. And then the hat-trick! Bezzecchi was rapidly coming underneath growing stress from ‘The Beast’ as we entered the ultimate lap of the Japanese Grand Prix.
Marquez led by 1.2s and was in a comparatively comfy place. So too was Martin. But it was something however comfy for Bezzecchi. Bastianini set a fourth consecutive quickest lap of the Grand Prix to reel in Bezzecchi, nevertheless it wasn’t fairly sufficient.
Just two seconds up the street from the Italians, Marc Marquez accomplished the double in Japan to notch up his 79th victory. And after the frustration of Austria, the reigning Champion responded on the soil the place he clinched the 2025 title a 12 months in the past to shut the hole to 2 factors to second-place Martin, who picks up his sixth P2 of the 12 months to restrict the harm performed. A profitable weekend for the highest two within the title race.
Some critically spectacular late-race tempo from Bastianini closes out an excellent weekend for the Tech3 Italian, with the hole to fifth-place Fernandez, who gained the ferocious combat for top-five honours between dwelling favorite Ogura and Acosta, sitting at 12.4s.
Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) was 3.4s behind the Fernandez, Ogura, Acosta battle in P8, with Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) and Luca Marini for Honda HRC Castrol of their yard finishing the highest 10.
The different factors scorers in Japan? Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) in P11, Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) in P12, Somkiat Chantra (Honda HRC Castrol) in P13, the returning Maverick Vinales (Red Bull KTM Tech3) in P14, and Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) in P15. (ANI)